Wiktionary

missing in action

English

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WOTD – 20 September 2019

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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missinginaction(notcomparable)

  1. (chieflymilitary)Thedesignationfor amemberof anorganization(usuallymilitary) with whomcontactislostand whosewhereaboutsare notknown,but whosedeathis notconfirmed.
    • 1864,August V[alentine] Kautz,“Return of Men Joined”, inThe Company Clerk:[…],Philadelphia, Pa.:J. B. Lippincott & Co.,→OCLC,paragraph 135,page77:
      Missing in actionare those who have been dropped from the muster-roll asmissing in action,and have subsequently joined again. [...] If themissing in action,or desertion, and the return to the company, both occur in the quarter, it is not necessary to note them; in other words, it is not necessary that the soldiers should be dropped and taken up again on the same return.
    • 1918July 20, “In the Hands of the Huns”, inJohn C[hristian] Freund,editor,The Music Trades,volume LVI, number 3, New York, N.Y.: The Music Trades Co.,→ISSN,→OCLC,page25,columns1–2:
      Private Louis R. Ziegra of this place [Deep River, Connecticut], formerly a bookkeeper at the Pratt-Reid Player Action Co., who is announced in dispatches from the War Department asmissing in actionis a German prisoner of war.
    • 1946January, “Merchant Marine Cadet Corps Record is Finest”, in Pat Martinet al.,editors,The Log,volume41,number 1, San Francisco, Calif.:Miller Freeman Publishers,→OCLC,page49:
      One and one-tenth percent of the academy graduates have been lost ormissing in action,prisoners of war or physically disabled as a result of the war. [...] An additional 150 Cadet-Midshipmen, before graduation, lost their lives or aremissing in action.
    • 1971March 23, Joan Vinson (witness), “Statement of Joan Vinson, National Coordinator,National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia”,inAmerican Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1971: Hearings before the Subcommittee on National Security Policy and Scientific Developments of theCommittee on Foreign Affairs,House of Representatives,Ninety-secondCongress,First Session:[…],Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office,→OCLC,page28:
      My husband, Colonel Bobby Vinson, U.S. Air Force, has beenmissing in actionsince April 24, 1968. Well over half of the men currently listed by the Departments of State and Defense have been missing or imprisoned for longer than that. Some men have spent twice that long in prison cells in the north, jungles in the south, and pits in Laos. Many more have spent at least that time in the limbo we have termed "missing in action."
    • 1976April 7, Anita Lauve (witness), “Statement of Ms. Anita Lauve”, inAmericans Missing in Southeast Asia: Hearings before the House Select Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast Asia, Ninety-fourthCongress,Second Session: Part 4:[…],Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office,→OCLC,page 2:
      Before examining the French experience, it would seem useful to consider some of the major differences and similarities between the French war and the American war in Vietnam. The areas of combat and the type of warfare, the composition of the armed forces, the bargaining power of the adversaries and their dissimilar set of values, were all factors that affected, in one way or another, the numbers of killed in action,missing in action,prisoners of war, died in captivity, and bodies recovered.
    • 2004September 14,George W[alker] Bush,“Proclamation 7815 of September 14, 2004: National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2004”, inCode of Federal Regulations:[Title]3:2004 Compilation and Parts 100–102:[…]The President[...]A Special Edition of theFederal Register,Washington, D.C.:Office of the Federal Register,National Archives and Records Administration;U.S. Government Printing Office,published 1 January 2005,→OCLC,page83:
      Our Nation will not forget these heroes, and we will not stop searching for our service members who aremissing in action.[...] I call upon the people of the United States to join me in saluting all American POWs and thosemissing in actionwho valiantly served our great country.
    • 2010,Ralph Riegel, John O’Mahony, chapter 12, inMissing in Action: The 50 Year Search for Ireland’s Missing Soldier,Cork, Munster:Mercier Press,→ISBN,page203:
      On 27 April 1981, Private Kevin Joyce (20) was on guard duty at a UN observation post in south Lebanon when he was kidnapped. He was never seen again and is now officially regarded by the Defence Forces as: ‘Missing in Action,Presumed Dead.’
  3. (by extension)Notpresentwhen one isexpectedto be.
    • 2007December 13, Katie Cincotta, “Is internet banking safe?”, inThe Sydney Morning Herald‎[1],Sydney, N.S.W.:Nine Publishing,→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon18 September 2019:
      He says that when pressed about why the money wasmissing in action,NAB [National Australia Bank] failed to provide an explanation and threatened to foreclose on the customer.
    • 2017,Tracy Rees,The Hourglass:
      Finding her toothbrush last night had been the extent of her unpacking and her slippers were stillmissing in action.
    • 2018February 24, Paul Rees, “Finn Russell masterminds historic Scotland victory over England”, inKatharine Viner,editor,The Guardian‎[2],London:Guardian News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon22 April 2018:
      John Barclayand[Stuart] McInallycontrolled the tackle area, denying England quick possession and fracturing the champions’ supply line,Simon Berghananchored the scrum and behindFinn Russell,missing in actionin the opening two rounds, fulfilled his captain Barclay’s prediction on the eve of the game that he would be the man of the match.
    • 2018August 12, Clare Foran, “Trump Calls Attorney General Jeff Sessions ‘Scared Stiff and Missing in Action’”, inCNN‎[3],archived fromthe originalon18 August 2019:
      PresidentDonald Trumpcalled Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions"scared stiff andMissing in Action"on Saturday in his latest broadside on Twitter against the nation's top law enforcement officer.
    • 2019July 9,The Canadian Press,“Missing in Action: Promised 200-strong Force yet to be Registered with UN”, inCityNews,Citytv‎[4],Toronto, Ont., archived fromthe originalon10 July 2019:
      A Canadian pledge of 200 soldiers for peacekeeping missions ismissing in actionmore than 18 months after it was first promised to the United Nations by Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau.

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